Minnows shine at SA Under-19 IPT

14 Dec 2015

Free State and North West got off to a flying start in the in the B-Section battle for promotion at the 2015 South African U-19 Inter-Provincial with two victories apiece at Worcester Golf Club on Monday.

After taking a commanding lead 3 – 1 lead over Mpumalanga and a clean sweep against Border in the Foursomes, Free State demolished Border 12 – 0 and handed Mpumalanga an 8.5 – 3.5 drubbing.

“It was quite incredible to watch this team go to work to get us off to a solid start,” said team manager Nicky Nel.

“It’s much harder to get to the A-Section than it is to stay there. To gain promotion, you have to start well and you have to keep winning, while you only need to win one match to keep your A-Section status.

“For five of our guys it’s their last SA U-19 IPT and they want to finish their junior careers with a promotion. We came really close last year when we tied for second with Boland, but we lost out in a games points count out on the automatic promotion this year. Therion, Wilco, Ruan and Stephen also played the SA U-23 IPT and finished second, so there is a lot of pride at stake this week.”

North West trailed Eastern Province 1.5 – 2.5 and was tied 2-all with Limpopo after the Foursomes, but the eight-man side mounted a spirited charge in the Singles to defeat both opponents 7.5 – 4.5.